This and That

By Helen Kaverman, The Delphos Herald
Published:  Monday, March 31, 2008 (5 months ago)
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Ruth Wilhelm, in her historical presentation of Fort Jennings, covered everything from its very beginning to its variety of businesses, farming, schools, churches and people.
She mentioned that one of the first businesses in Fort Jennings Township was an Ash Distillery, located near the Miami-Erie Canal. It was one of the most well-known distilleries of whiskey in Putnam County. When government revenue officials were expected to arrive, they put weights on the barrels of liquor and sunk them into the canal. One barrel was forgotten and found many years later. They also had a lead pipe leading from the distillery to the nearby road where it was loaded for distribution. It was one of the largest industries at that time. The owner of the business died in the penitentiary before 1884.
Henry Joseph Boehmer had one of the earliest businesses in Fort Jennings. He ran a general store, where he traded with the Wyandot Indians and built a mill and a dam on the Auglaize.
Another early establishment was Kramer’s General Store. Peter and Julie Kramer built this store in 1881. They sold instruments, music, china, cigars, candy, stationary and patent medicines. It was the largest music store in Putnam County. In the rear of the store was a waiting room for railroad passengers. Peter was the station master when they had 5-6 passenger trains passing through town daily. Peter died in 1900. Julie ran the store for 10 more years. Then it was taken over by Frank Kramer. The property was later sold to the Fort Jennings Equity Elevator. During the 1940s it was still the place to go for school supplies and other odds and ends.
The first road was on the high ground along the Auglaize  River.  The canal provided transportation from 1845 to 1900. However, the railroads took over much of the  canal  traffic  in  about 1877.  The  first railway  was the Toledo, Delphos and Indianapolis railway. When the 15 miles of track from Delphos to Dupont was being built their supplies were sent on canal boats from Kentucky. When  the  railroad  was  officially opened nearly 6,000 people came to Fort Jennings for the celebration, which included fireworks. The railroad was later known  as the Cloverleaf. In the 1960’s, damage to the bridge in Dupont prevented through traffic on the railroad. The tracks north of Fort Jennings were officially abandoned in 1975.
Many stone quarries were in the area. The quarry near the edge of town was started by Charles Raabe and Charles Mericle. Mericle was killed in a dynamite blasting accident and Rudolph Raabe came in as a partner.  In 1914 this company was contracted to build the “State Road” from Fort Jennings to the Allen County line. This road is now St. Rt. 190.
The quarry was closed during World War I. When it reopened in 1920, it had to be drained. They caught the fish and delivered them to anyone in the area in a water tank on a truck. The remainder of the fish were relocated in other bodies of water.
Agriculture was the mainstay of the area. Ditching the Black Swamp was really a big deal, whereby they could drain the water off the flat land. Tiling the fields was another improvement. First it was wood tiles, then clay and now plastic. Miller Brothers, of Ottoville, had one of the big tile mills. Some old kilns can still be found in Putnam County.
Threshing was a neighborhood affair. First the grain crops were cut and shocked, then threshed. This was hard work for the men in the fields and  the  women  in  the kitchen. The neighborhood women would get together in the  hot  kitchens  and  serve two  big  delicious  meals  to the  men.  They  always  included pies. When the horses had to be put in the barn to rest for the night, the humans quit for supper and got out a keg of beer.
Joe Menke purchased the first combine in the area. Mary Sargent remembers her dad, John Schimmoeller said “It’ll never work.” Well … it did work. The Schimmoellers lived on the same country road as Joe Menke. Menke hired out to many farmers until others ventured into the new machinery.
Barn raising was another big event. Now many of those barns are coming down.
At one time the town could even boast of having a clockmaker. John Funck also made watches. Funck made the first Delphos town clock and the clock in the Defiance Catholic Church is also one of his famous clocks.
There  were  even  two hotels  and  two  doctors  in town in the 1870s. Alex Heinl had a tavern, restaurant and grocery  on  the  corner  of Water Street and First Street. Later there were several owners of this establishment. The top floor was King’s Hall, where many wedding receptions and parties were held. Still later it became the Knotty Pine. It was torn down in recent years and is now a bank parking lot. Hermie Meyers opened his first grocery in that building. Louis and Julie Dickman had Dickman’s Restaurant on Water Street for many years and this was always a good place to hang out. Before the school opened a cafeteria in the 1950s, Dickman’s and the other tavern served at our school lunch places. Julie Dickman was famous for her 10 cent hamburgers. This tavern later became the “Old Fort.” It is now  going  through  renovation by  new owners.  Everyone  is looking forward to the day the new restaurant opens.

(To be continued
next week)

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